This shouldn’t surprise anyone. Even more so given the amount of company cars, where fuel is basically free, so driving to Roncq is a trip that can easily save you €100+ if you fill your car to the brim.
I’m actually curious now how much this sugar tax has made/costed our government already.
[deleted]
You must be stupid to shop in Belgium. It makes sense for the Belgian treasury and to keep the money inside Belgium. But as an individual it’s stupid. In Belgium the prices for frisdrank are already higher because of the weaker position of the supermarkets. Then they introduced the suikertax… which also applies to frisdranken with no suger… there goes the illusion it’s out of consideration of your health. And soon you’ll have statiegeld in Belgium also. I ain’t bringing my sticky smelly empty bottles back to the shop. I’ll just keep buying in France with no statiegeld.
But hey, let s blame the “communist” government for charging food with a “criminal” 6% VAT that forces the “poor” Belgian consumers to drive abroad for food and beverages…
I don t know, Rick…
I guess that means ten out of ten Belgians close to the border shop elsewhere? Because I don’t know anyone driving to the Netherlands to shop.
I can understand that tbh. As someone who lives very close to both the NL and GE border, it’s just nice having variety. Even though I don’t think germany is worth it at all. (Actually when living in germany we often went over the border to shop in Belgium instead) but the Netherlands has some very nice convenience we don’t have here.
I also love the Cactus in Luxemburg, but it’s a bit further (~1h) so we only do it every once in a while.
I regularly cross the border for Paracetamol. Insanely cheap at Dutch Kruidvat shops.
tl;dr: If you live near France, you go to France for your wine, cola and water (and a few other basic goods while you’re there).
If you live near the Netherlands, you go there for off-the-shelf medicine.
If you live near Luxembourg, you go there for alcohol and tobacco.
If you have a company car and too much free time, you can do all of that.
If you’re not part of those categories, you’re going to be wasting more money going back-and-forth, so you shop in Belgium instead.
I don’t think that is really a secret. That has been the default for a few decades now.
Where else would I go ? Weed is still illegal here.
Hoe zit het hé Bartje.
It’s funny how so many people have sympathy for the Delhaize strikes, yet they go abroad for their grocery shopping because groceries are too expensive here.
10 comments
This shouldn’t surprise anyone. Even more so given the amount of company cars, where fuel is basically free, so driving to Roncq is a trip that can easily save you €100+ if you fill your car to the brim.
I’m actually curious now how much this sugar tax has made/costed our government already.
[deleted]
You must be stupid to shop in Belgium. It makes sense for the Belgian treasury and to keep the money inside Belgium. But as an individual it’s stupid. In Belgium the prices for frisdrank are already higher because of the weaker position of the supermarkets. Then they introduced the suikertax… which also applies to frisdranken with no suger… there goes the illusion it’s out of consideration of your health. And soon you’ll have statiegeld in Belgium also. I ain’t bringing my sticky smelly empty bottles back to the shop. I’ll just keep buying in France with no statiegeld.
The biggest Belgian supermarkets keep rising the price of groceries, [breaking records in profits](https://www.greenpeace.org/belgium/nl/persbericht/51581/rapport-greenpeace-grootste-agro-en-voedingsbedrijven-maken-miljardenwinsten-dankzij-de-oorlog-en-de-pandemie/) that go straight to their shareholders.
But hey, let s blame the “communist” government for charging food with a “criminal” 6% VAT that forces the “poor” Belgian consumers to drive abroad for food and beverages…
I don t know, Rick…
I guess that means ten out of ten Belgians close to the border shop elsewhere? Because I don’t know anyone driving to the Netherlands to shop.
I can understand that tbh. As someone who lives very close to both the NL and GE border, it’s just nice having variety. Even though I don’t think germany is worth it at all. (Actually when living in germany we often went over the border to shop in Belgium instead) but the Netherlands has some very nice convenience we don’t have here.
I also love the Cactus in Luxemburg, but it’s a bit further (~1h) so we only do it every once in a while.
I regularly cross the border for Paracetamol. Insanely cheap at Dutch Kruidvat shops.
tl;dr: If you live near France, you go to France for your wine, cola and water (and a few other basic goods while you’re there).
If you live near the Netherlands, you go there for off-the-shelf medicine.
If you live near Luxembourg, you go there for alcohol and tobacco.
If you have a company car and too much free time, you can do all of that.
If you’re not part of those categories, you’re going to be wasting more money going back-and-forth, so you shop in Belgium instead.
I don’t think that is really a secret. That has been the default for a few decades now.
Where else would I go ? Weed is still illegal here.
Hoe zit het hé Bartje.
It’s funny how so many people have sympathy for the Delhaize strikes, yet they go abroad for their grocery shopping because groceries are too expensive here.